Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed that the implementation of the “Turkey Centenary Vision” in Istanbul will begin with the local elections scheduled for March 31.
This came in a speech he delivered on Sunday to a crowd of supporters of the Public Alliance as part of the election campaign of candidate Murat Kurum for the presidency of the Greater Istanbul Municipality.
The “Turkey Centenary” is a vision announced by President Erdogan in late 2022, which includes the programs and goals of the Turkish Republic in its second centenary.
At the beginning of his speech, Erdogan praised the city of Istanbul and “the greatness of its history and its geographical, cultural and civilizational status on the global level.”
Erdogan called on supporters of the People’s Alliance, which consists of the Justice and Development Party, the Nationalist Movement, and the Grand Union parties, to “work day and night” in order to collect more votes for the coalition’s candidate, Murat Kurum.
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He continued, saying: “We must all rid Istanbul of the period of stagnation that lasted 5 years during the opposition’s tenure as mayor of Greater Istanbul. Therefore, we must knock on all doors, win hearts, and convince voters to vote for the candidate who will serve the city.”
Erdogan criticized the current administration of the Istanbul municipality, which is from the opposition Republican People’s Party, stating that it “has not been able to provide tangible services to the city’s residents.”
In this context, he referred to the services provided to the city of Istanbul by the Justice and Development governments under his leadership during the past 21 years.
He added, “In the past 21 years, we have made government investments in Istanbul worth 1 trillion 650 billion liras (the dollar equivalent).”
In this context, Erdogan enumerated the projects implemented by his governments in Istanbul, from health to transportation, education, infrastructure, airports, universities, and social services.
